EZ-GO TXT 1990's, starter-gen tearing up belts

[borntorun]

well just when I locate one major problem and get to run beautifully for a few weeks, another problem pops up.

Had to tighten starter-gen belt almost every day one week until belt got torn up. A new belt did the same after another week of continual daily tightening. The belts just plain wore out and thinned very quickly. The pulleys are smooth and there seems to be no mechanical reason for the excessive wear.

One thing I noticed when the starter belt breaks while driving is the engine RPM jumps quite higher and the cart clips along very fast afterwards. Apparently there seems to be extreme electrical drag created by the starter-gen during normal run time. Is there supposed to be a relay to switch out the windings for it to generate after a certain engine rpm instead of acting as a starter? Or does it not have to do this? Seems like the starter-gen is acting like a electro-dynamic brake instead of a generator at driving speeds. It pulls the engine power down a lot and wears out starter belts like I've never seen before. It cranks and runs engine CCW (robin 350cc) and is hooked up 12V neg ground.

[DNVcom]

You may have already checked this but are the pulleys properly aligned?

[Larry1950]

Sounds to me like the starter/gen bearings are going bad or an internal problem. There should be some drag when charging but not a lot. What happens to a starter/gen as the rpms increase the starter becomes a charging system putting out a constant voltage and current, its the job of the voltage regulator to control the voltage and current. Either the starter/gen is binding or an excessive amount of current is being drawn. Is the starter/gen hot?? It should rotate freely hand.

[borntorun]

well it's start of the season and we are under the hood again, um, the seat... we are revisiting the "starter ripping up belts" issue.... Late-90's ezgo cart with robin EH35C ... to recap, it eats up starter belts within a week .. pulleys are aligned and smooth, nothing rubbing anywhere ... belt is kept tight and engine turns over very easily.... Thus there seems to be a great amount of electrical drag causing this problem only while engine is running ... We tested it with the belt removed today ... Starter rpm increases proportionally with the pedal... When released, starter takes @5 seconds to slow to a stop thus I believe the bushings are fine.... Is there a relay that's supposed to cut out the start circuit after the motor starts? If so, it's not working, since when the belt is installed and while motor is running, the starter/generator puts a significant load (drag) on the engine, which is why the belts are tearing up so fast.... When the belt breaks while driving, the cart suddenly leaps forward with extra power and gains a few MPH... Tomorrow I'm picking up another belt and am going to unhook the voltage regulator to see if that takes away all of the load upon the belt (and engine)... During tests last year the VR was charging at 14-15V ... and to answer Larry's question, yes, the start/gen does get pretty warm after driving a half-mile or more (but has never smelled hot) THANKS FOR YOUR INFO

[Larry1950]

Is there a relay that's supposed to cut out the start circuit after the motor starts? If so, it's not working.

The charge and start circuit are one in the same, so there is no start cutout relay. As the rpm's increase the starter becomes a generator charging the battery.
Try a Kevlar belt, it may take the abuse better.

[borntorun]

put the voltmeter on the battery terms .... 14V at idle and gradually climbs all the way up to 18V at full rpm ... unhook the small green wire from the start/gen and the load on the belt disappears and the motor revs up into higher rpm's. The problem must be with the voltage regulator being stuck or misadjusted (if there even is an adjustment on it) Well I believe we have solved the belt-destroying problem.. obviously we don't use the cart much